How technology is making electrical operations safer and more efficient

Since the advent of the programmable logic controller (PLC), a now ubiquitous component in plant environments around the world, digitalization has been continuously applied to help industrial organizations improve process accuracy, efficiency, and reliability. 
 
Today, digital technologies are increasingly applied to help monitor the health of the electrical systems. These devices provide the data insights needed to improve power quality, reduce power consumption, and perform conditional maintenance. Digital technologies are also making a major impact on electrical safety.

Technology provides visibility into energy patterns

Broadly speaking, digitalization is a profound transformation of a business achieved by adopting digital technologies to support business activities and objectives. In most industrial settings, this means using a combination of smart sensors and connected devices on machinery to gather real-time data.
 
This real-time and historical data can then be analyzed through a software platform using predictive analytics to enhance manufacturing and other industrial operations. 
 
When applied to electrical systems, digitalization technologies offer extensive visibility into the energy patterns behind critical processes and machinery that can help guide business decisions directly impacting electrical safety. For example, predictive analytics allow end users to better prevent and be warned of future incidents and potential hazards before they come to fruition and can serve as a troubleshooting tool when a power issue arises with connected equipment.

Smart sensors and advanced analytics for electrical safety

Hazard elimination is the act of establishing an electrically safe working condition. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace provides clarity around this topic by defining an electrically safe work condition as:
 
“An electrically safe work condition is not a procedure, it is a state wherein all hazardous electrical conductors or circuit parts to which a worker might be exposed are maintained in a de-energized state for the purpose of temporarily eliminating electrical hazards for the period of time for which the state is maintained.”

When working on or near electrical equipment, it is important to de-energize the equipment to the greatest extent possible, follow lockout tagout procedures, and verify the absence of voltage. In the past, the verification step was performed by electrically qualified workers in personal protective equipment (PPE) using portable voltage test instruments. However, this process relies on meticulous human performance to be effective. 
 
By leveraging equipment-level smart sensors for electrical safety, organizations can prevent exposure to the electrical hazards encountered during this testing process. These devices provide real-time indication of power present in wiring devices, the amount of power flowing through them and the quality of that power through detailed reporting. The trend reports make it easier to spot anomalies that can lead to potentially dangerous situations — without the need for workers to physically interact directly with equipment. This capability can advise when conditions are safe to access the equipment, as well as what level of PPE may be required if equipment needs to remain energized. 
 
Today’s advanced analytics can also warn of underperforming equipment conditions without physically removing any protective enclosures by hand. The ability to complete much of the diagnostic work without opening the enclosures on the equipment using this combination of sensors and software can help prevent workers from being exposed to potential electrical hazards unless absolutely necessary.
 
However, there will remain situations when workers need to interface directly with equipment. In these instances, digital technologies can help minimize the likelihood of an occurrence and the severity of injury should an accident occur.

Minimizing the likelihood of dangerous occurances

There are many layers of safety that can be employed to reduce the likelihood of arc flash, arc blast and/or shock when electrical workers must interact with equipment. Here’s how digitalization can help take that level of protection one step further:
 

• Visibility: Equipping a panelboard with sensors enables workers and management to confirm that equipment is disconnected without opening the panel door or using handheld test equipment to reduce the likelihood of an incident.
• Indication: The presence of voltage can be intelligently and remotely sensed with alarms to provide electrical workers a visible indication of which side of the disconnect is energized and which isn’t. This capability is particularly impactful in circumstances when all power sources cannot be de-energized
• Knowledge: Real-time and historical insights on the condition and maintenance of equipment can provide electrical workers with details that are critical to safety when performing justified energized work. For example, workers can more easily identify “hot spots” that may develop over time due to thermal expansion and contraction, leading to lose and therefore unsafe electrical connections. Using the traditional method of periodic IR (Infrared) scans, it’s highly unlikely that loose connections will be identified. Knowledge of the equipment itself is critical to recognizing hazards, and a prepared worker is a protected worker. 

Reducing the severity of injuries if an incident were to occur

When justified energized work must occur, minimizing the danger associated with electrical hazards to the point at which injuries may be minor can be designed into the system. To that end, a variety of digital technologies can help reduce the severity of injuries to workers should an accident occur, including the following:

• Preparation: Real-time equipment data helps ensure maintenance staff can be deployed fully prepared with the necessary tools, parts and PPE to perform needed maintenance or repairs. At the end of the day, this ability to perform maintenance with better informed and prepared workers can help significantly reduce risk. 
• Remote monitoring: Personnel can see issues like electrical failures and gas and water leaks without ever entering hazardous areas. To put it simply, when you’re digitally monitoring equipment, you eliminate the need to visit potentially hazardous locations unless absolutely necessary. As a result, risk is decreased simply by reducing workers’ routine exposure to energized equipment and hazardous environments.  

The future in electrical safety
In plants or any other industrial environments, the number one goal should be to establish an electrically safe working condition. The remote insights enabled by digital technologies are allowing organizations to make smarter maintenance decisions based on real-time equipment and environmental data to support that mission. 
 
These capabilities not only helps support safer working conditions but can ease compliance with the 2023 NFPA 70B Standard for Electrical Equipment Maintenance. By comparing baseline equipment performance data with historical maintenance logs for a given piece of equipment, it becomes easier to understand when maintenance should be performed. Digitalization can further enhance these benefits by enabling condition-based monitoring, combining historical data with real-time and continuous monitoring insights. For example, similar to how modern cars indicate when an oil change is needed based on real-time engine data, digitalization allows electrical equipment to provide maintenance alerts based on actual performance, rather than a fixed schedule.
 
Some platforms even enable prescriptive maintenance by going one step further to incorporate machine learning and artificial intelligence that can prescribe specific mitigation solutions for optimal results.
 
When designing industrial electrical systems, a critical goal needs to be simplifying and safeguarding designs. This means always striving to implement the best-in-market solutions that help ensure the electrical safety of workers and critical equipment.